Marco Spada: Igor Tsvirko
Angela: Maria Koshkaryova
Marchioness Sampietri: Maria Vinogradova
Prince Federici: Dmitry Vyskubenko
Count Pepinelli: Alexei Putintsev
Premiere of the production: 8 November 2013, the Bolshoi Theatre.
Revival: 14 June 2023
Running time: 3 hours 5 minutes
The performance has two intervals
The ballet about the noble bandit Marco Spada, who robs the rich while hiding behind the mask of an aristocrat, first appeared at the Opéra de Paris in the mid-19th century. Daniel Auber first composed an opera on this adventurous subject and, after its success, reshaped its most successful numbers into a ballet score, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier. The production remained on the Paris stage for several seasons before, like so many ballets of its time, sinking into oblivion.
The elaborate plot, once a favourite with audiences, returned to the stage at the end of the 20th century thanks to Pierre Lacotte, a French choreographer with a passion for the past. Lacotte’s signature lay in creating his own versions of lost masterpieces, with historical research as his source of inspiration. Almost nothing survived of the 19th century Marco Spada, so he created the ballet virtually from scratch. He retained the adventure plot and Auber’s music but devised choreography shaped by the demands of modern technique, sparing neither male nor female dancers, and filling the ballet with formidable classical variations.
The premiere took place at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in 1981. The production later entered the repertoires of other theatres, and in 2013 its revised version appeared at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Lacotte, who greatly admired Russian dancers, gave the company an opportunity to display its full richness and range. Two ballerina roles, three leading male parts, soloist roles, dances for the corps de ballet, and pantomime scenes all form the fabric of this colourful production. Character roles and transformations, intricate filigree footwork, the elegance of aristocratic duets, and the splendour and charm of an old-world setting make this ballet a generous gift both to the artists and to the audience.
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